OMG, this totally brings me back to days of RPG games where we wander aimlessly for fights just to get enough experience to take on the boss so we can see the story progresses. However instead of random encounters you have balance you game perfectly so that as long as we find and eliminate all enemy on board, we are able to proceed. Which I thought was a really nice design choice.
Pixel art were simple, clean, well made and consistent throughout. I chuckled at the character's talking animation and dialogs. :) Sound effects were great, Music has a great deal of personality and is well suited to the theme of the game.
Thank you for this slice of nostalgia, and I really can't say there's anything here I don't like. Very well done and I am super impressed.